The Somerset County school board and its superintendent have agreed to part ways after months of turmoil in the school system, the board announced Monday morning.

The board chair read a statement saying that they had “mutually agreed” that Ava Tasker-Mitchell would step down on Friday.

The decision came after a brief closed-door meeting of the board.

A MAGA-aligned school board had tried unsuccessfully to fire Tasker-Mitchell over the summer for insubordination, but Maryland education leaders intervened, first reinstating her and then ruling that she had been fired without due process.

“We are deeply concerned by the local board’s complete disregard of process by failing to follow Constitutional and statutory requirements. Such actions show a disrespect for the rule of law and cannot be tolerated,” the Maryland State Board of Education said in an opinion issued earlier this month.

The state gave the Somerset board 30 days to try to fire Tasker-Mitchell, a decision she could have appealed. Instead, the board may have decided to buy her out of her four-year contract, which is what school boards normally do when they wish to get rid of a superintendent.

The board did not address whether Tasker-Mitchell would receive compensation for stepping down Monday morning. The superintendent’s contract calls for her to receive her full salary and health insurance benefits for six months if she and the board mutually agree to part ways.

School boards in Maryland can only fire their superintendents for limited reasons, all of which have to do with serious or poor behavior such as malfeasance or insubordination. Superintendents cannot be fired over policy disagreements.

Tasker-Mitchell’s contract called for her to receive a 3% increase in pay each of the three years of her contract. If she had stayed, she would have received a total of $639,000 for this year and the two remaining years.

The board was also expected to contribute 7% to her retirement fund each year.

Neither board chair Matthew Lankford or Tasker-Mitchell immediately responded to requests for comment Monday.

The Somerset board will now have to pick a new superintendent to fulfill the rest of the contract. In July, the board asked Maryland State School Superintendent Carey Wright to approve David Bromwell to serve as interim superintendent, after it had fired Tasker-Mitchell.

Wright denied the request because she had reinstated Tasker-Mitchell. The state superintendent must approve the selection of local superintendents, but approval is rarely withheld unless the candidate does not have the credentials required by Maryland law.

Bromwell is a former Dorchester County superintendent who stepped down in March 2024 before his term ended after a mutual agreement with the school board there.

Tasker-Mitchell’s departure isn’t likely to calm the community, which has been at war with the school board since January, when newly elected board members took their seats.

Tasker-Mitchell had been hired in July 2024 by a board led by different members.

The community began filling the boardroom for every meeting and became increasing angry as it voted on MAGA-aligned policies not supported by many in a school system that is about half students of color.

After removing DEI policies, and requiring the American flag to be flown in nearly every room in every school, the board began usurping power from the superintendent. It made itself the arbiter of which books will be taught and allowed in school libraries. It attempted to cut all the librarian positions from the school system budget, but the county commissioners restored the money to keep them.

The board at first refused to approve an English language arts curriculum that had been piloted last school year because it had not vetted a suggested reading list. It reversed its decision when Maryland’s Inspector General suggested that the state could withhold funding if it didn’t pass a curriculum. Two years ago, the state told Somerset its English curriculum was poor quality and needed to be updated.

The Somerset board ordered Tasker-Mitchell to take down from the school system website information on student rights in case of ICE enforcement raids. The Maryland State Department of Education had asked all the state’s superintendents to post the information.

Tasker-Mitchell had asked the state board in May to begin a process of removing the board chair, Lankford, from the board. She said Lankford had verbally threatened her and that she feared for her safety.

The state board declined to do so.

School board meetings had become so raucous that the board decided in September to stop holding in-person meetings, retreating to an online format and sidelining public comment to written statements.

Tasker-Mitchell is the second Black superintendent to leave before the end of a contract. The first Black superintendent sued the district, and a jury awarded him a financial settlement and required the county to name a school after him.

Tasker-Mitchell had little time to enact any policies of her own, but in the 2024-25 school year — Tasker-Mitchell’s first year as superintendent — Somerset students had the second-most improved scores on state reading tests in grades three through eight. County math scores continue to lag.

About the Education Hub

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